Is an Intel i3 sufficient for Plex transcoding?

[mgsvr]

Hi Hoopster,

 

I went through the forum and read many of posts, but still need your advise on this. Recently my 2015 Asrock server mobo + Xeon v3 died on me, and now I am looking for a new m-ITX mobo. My main goal is to build for Plex + Quick Sync. I only do 1 stream (1080P and 4K) since only myself use Plex. No transcoding needed as most of my client devices can be direct played.

 

It seems you have a lot of experience with ASRock. Do you think ASRock C246 WSI + Intel i3 (support ECC ram and lower budget than Xeon) work with what I am looking for? I'd love to get a Xeon cpu but I do not have the budget right now. However, I think ECC is very important to me because of the data I have.

 

Thank you!

[Hoopster]

37 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

Do you think ASRock C246 WSI + Intel i3 work with what I am looking for?

Yes, should work no problem for your intended purpose.   In fact, let me refer you to this forum thread where @mgutt describes his setup and results in using an i3 with QuickSync for Plex.

 

The C246 WSI supports both 8th and 9th generation Pentium, Core and Xeon CPUs.  You could use anything form an i3-8100 to an i3-9350K with that board.

 

As you know, the i3 does support ECC and if you ever find a reason to upgrade to a supported Xeon, that possibility exists.  I doubt you will need that unless your use cases expand to include multiple VM support. 

 

By the way, to tag someone specifically in a post to make sure they are notified, type the @ symbol and a few letters of the username you want to tag and then select the user from the list.  You must select from the list and not just type @{username}; @hoopster is not the same as @Hoopster.

 

Here's an example of what you will see:

[mgsvr]

Thank you, @Hoopster. I haven't post in this forum for many years, and I didn't know this tagging feature exists now! LOL

 

Yes, I did read the topic from @mgutt last night and your many other posts. I think a Core i3 will be great since I only need Plex and one Windows 10 VM. Those two were what I used with my previous setup. After looking at new builds, I learned about this new tech called Quick Sync! Also learned that not to the "F" version of the CPU as it doesn't have the iGPU.

 

I think I will buy the newer i3-9100 or i3-9300 (over the older i3-8xxx?) with around 65 watt usage. The K version is 91 watt. On ASRack website, it indicates the i3-9xxx needs BIOS P2.10. After I installed the CPU and boot, I can flash the board to P2.10, correct? 

 

 

I still have my Seasonic PSU, and Noctua fans from my previous setup. I just need to buy the new DDR4 Ram, Intel Core i3 CPU, Asrock C246 WSI + that OCuLINK cable.

 

 

[Hoopster]

7 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

After I installed the CPU and boot, I can flash the board to P2.10, correct? 

That chart means the board must have at least the P2.10 BIOS installed or it will not even boot with a 9th generation processor.  Fortunately, I think all the boards available now have either been updated to at least P2.10 or ship with it.  My C246 ASRock board has the P2.30 BIOS.

 

If, for some reason, you get a board with a BIOS older than P2.10, ASRock will ship you (free) a new BIOS chip to install on the board.  It is socketed unless they have changed things.  I used to have a C236 WSI (prior generation) and it has a socketed BIOS chip that was easily removable.

[mgsvr]

Wow, that is so nice about the socketed BIOS. Where do you usually buy your components? I usually buy from NewEgg when it comes to PC parts, and I don't know if their stock is old or new batch (regarding the BIOS version).

 

I read your other post that your newer ASRock does HTML5 IPMI now. My failed board, ASRock E3C224D4I-14S, has that old Java IPMI. Since I use a Mac, the board won't even allow me to download the JViewer file. I'm not sure why it. I even used Chrome to do it but the file always get corrupted. Then I took out my 10 years old Windows laptop (with hard drive), changed a lot of Internet Explorer security options and added the ip address to Java option. It finally let me download, but then Java won't run the JViewer file due to a new security thing in the latest Java program. I googled and have to edit this Java file code. Finally I get to run JViewer, booted and saw the BIOS. I did a restart a couple times but the board remain in "System Initializing..." and never boot into BIOS again.

 

Sorry to brag about my experience. I'd love to get that new ASRock IPMI again but due to the price I cannot. Plus, reading from your post that it needs a special BIOS in order for IPMI and iGPU Quick Sync to work.

[mgutt]

7 hours ago, mgsvr said:

I think I will buy the newer i3-9100 or i3-9300 (over the older i3-8xxx?) with around 65 watt usage. The K version is 91 watt.

 

The TDP is the maximum value. In idle and low usage all i3 consume nearly the same. I measured the 9350K and the power consumption raised only by 0.6W. I even use the same cheap boxed Intel cooler. Maximum temps were ~65 degree celcius while parity check and parallel other processes.

 

Regarding the board: Do you must buy ITX? You should consider mATX because:

2x M.2 (RAID1 cache)

more PCIe Slots for future upgrades

[Hoopster]

15 hours ago, mgsvr said:

Where do you usually buy your components?

Newegg, Amazon,  Provantage, SuperBiiz (now out of business except on eBay); whichever had what I was looking for in stock and at a reasonable price.  I often found that Provantage had parts available even when the others did not. 

 

15 hours ago, mgsvr said:

reading from your post that it needs a special BIOS in order for IPMI and iGPU Quick Sync to work.

True, but easily obtainable from ASRock and also posted in the forum thread you referenced.

[mgsvr]

9 hours ago, mgutt said:

egarding the board: Do you must buy ITX? You should consider mATX because:

2x M.2 (RAID1 cache)

more PCIe Slots for future upgrades

 

Hi @mgutt. Yes, I only able to go for m-ITX due to the case I currently have. It's actually a really nice NAS case I bought back in 2015. It's a Lian Li Q26B that can hold 10 drives. I know I'm limiting myself seeing other mobo forms with better specs and options, but I can't part from the case. Thanks for letting me know about the TDP and temp. I think I will go with tthe i3 9100 for $150 as the 9350K is almost $200.

 

Hi @Hoopster, I'm going to buy the ASRock C236 WSI off Amazon and email the ASRock support as well. I will ask them about OCuLINK cable and BIOS. Thanks for letting me know about BIOS. Hopefully I will get a board with a newer version so the i3 9100 will work on it.

[mgutt]

10 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

I think I will go with tthe i3 9100 for $150 as the 9350K is almost $200.

Okay. Mine (OEM version without cooler) cost only 115 €. I don't know why, but it was the same price as the 8100 (boxed) which I used before. Maybe a sell-out, because now its completely sold out.

 

10 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

ASRock C236 WSI

You mean C246

 

If its available, you could buy the Gigabyte C246N-WU2 as well (I asked Gigabyte Germany and they said, it is in backorder for my country). Compared to the Asrock it has a full size M.2 slot. Thats why I did not bought the Asrock. And the Gigabyte has usual ATX power connectors while the Asrock has an really ugly adapter and its easy to kill the board if its connected wrong. And the Gigabyte has a lower power consumption.

 

 

[mgsvr]

Yes, C246 haha. I have not buy it yet, it's still in my Amazon cart.

 

I will look into that Gigabyte board. Glad you mentioned about the ATX power connector. My 2015 Seasonic PSU is modular and has the 24 pin type. I noticed that ASRock has the newer type power connectors and I do not know if my PSU even has those. I guess not (sorry I wasn't able to open my case to check yet). You're right, I'd try to avoid using adapter.

 

I also look into this Asus P11C-I, it's a m-ITX with support up to 6x Sata. Do you know anything relate to it and whether it will work with Intel iGPU and quick sync? Plex is the most important to me.

 

[Hoopster]

24 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

It's a Lian Li Q26B that can hold 10 drives.

My very first unRAID build was in a Lian-LI PC-Q25B (a little smaller than the PC-Q26).  They are both great cases.  I still have the PC-Q25 sitting around empty waiting for a new build someday for someone who wants a small server.

 

Here is a forum discussion you may find interesting with respect to the C246 WSI and OCuLink cables.  This was Trurl's journey to building a new system based on those components.  He ended up going with a Xeon E-2146G processor but other than than that, his build may be similar to what you want to do.  He also built in the PC-Q25B case.

 

Certainly as @mgutt has pointed out there are other options you could consider.  I personally have no experience with the Asus boards in a server but I have used lots of them on desktop PCs; good boards.

[mgutt]

17 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

My 2015 Seasonic PSU is modular and has the 24 pin type

No problem with that. The Asrock board contains the 24 to 4 Pin adapter.

 

17 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

Asus P11C-I ... Do you know anything relate to it and whether it will work with Intel iGPU and quick sync?

Could be a problem as this board has no video output (the VGA connector is for the IPMI chip). If the iGPU can be used depends on the BIOS (ask Asus). And its M.2 slot is short, too.

 

Gigabyte solved it very elegant by placing the full size M.2 on top of the chipset cooler:

 

I don't know if the Asrock supports that, but the Gigabyte does 2x x8 Bifurcation which allows splitting the PCIe slot with the Supermicro Riser Card RSC-S2-88: 

 

Or you could install the Supermicro AOC-SLG3-2M2 which allows installing two additional M.2 NVMe:

 

PS I've installed an M.2 5x SATA adapter to even get 13 SATA ports

[mgsvr]

@mgutt I think I will go with the ASRock C246. The Gigabyte is no longer in stock every where in USA.

 

@Hoopster Thank you for the link. It's very useful as Trurl listed all the links to the component. The info and link in that you posted regarding Crucial no longer sell ECC ram. That's very sad to hear because all my computer devices I use Crucial as memory. I will try to stick with their brand. You posted the link to Micron (which linked with Crucial) it's not in the ASRock memory QVL, but it will work fine, correct? I have the below with NewEgg.  

 

https://www.newegg.com/p/1B4-00SK-002F1

 

I will buy the Intel Core i3-9100 from Amazon. I wanted the i3-9300 but it's not available any where. It has 8MB cache vs the 6MB from 9100. Not sure if that matters.

I will also get the OCuLINK from trurl's link. 

 

 

 

[Hoopster]

4 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

you posted the link to Micron (which linked with Crucial) it's not in the ASRock memory QVL, but it will work fine, correct?

Yes.  ASRock does not usually list a lot of RAM in the QVL, but if RAM you want to use meets the specs for the board it is likely to work well; QVL or not.  Micron makes Crucial RAM so it's likely all extremely similar just will different branding.  They are just trying to establish Micron as the "server RAM" brand.

[mgsvr]

Hi @mgutt, so I read your topic. On the #1, that's for the 24 Pin to 4 Pin power adapter for the whole motherboard you talked about earlier.

 

As for the #2 8 Pin for the CPU. I look back on my PSU, I think it does support 8 PIN.

 

 

 

[mgutt]

2 hours ago, mgsvr said:

I think it does support 8 PIN.

It works with 4 pin CPU as well. 8 pin is for high power Xeons

[mgutt]

2 hours ago, mgsvr said:

The Gigabyte is no longer in stock every where in USA.

Everywhere in the world ^^

 

This and the C246M-WU4 (mATX) are extremely popular at the moment as Intel cut ECC RAM support of the 10th Gen and the mATX version is the only C246 with two M.2 slots. And of the successor, the W480, is no ITX board available. The manufacturers don't know their target audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mgsvr]

@Hoopster and @mgutt,

 

Since the C246 only support 3x Fan headers, I plan to buy 4 pin Y fan splitter by Noctua. I will install 3 of them splitters because my case have 6 fans right now (CPU and 5x PWM Noctua fans). CPU and one of the fans will share one header.

 

On my previous setup I have this Unraid plugin "ipmi fan" that spins up the fans based on the thermostat. Now the C246 doesn't have IPMI, will the plugin able to control the fans somehow?

[Hoopster]

@Hoopster and @mgutt,
 On my previous setup I have this Unraid plugin "ipmi fan" that spins up the fans based on the thermostat. Now the C246 doesn't have IPMI, will the plugin able to control the fans somehow?

No, without IPMI, that plug-in cannot read or control fan speeds. You’ll have to do that via the BIOS.

The system temp plugin will let you display some fan speeds in the GUI if it can read the sensors


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mgutt]

I'm using two fans and let them spin constantly at a lower speed with the included throttle adapter of Noctua. But my case (bitfenix Mini ITX) offers a 200mm fan in the front, which makes this task easy.

 

[mgsvr]

Ok thank you. I was using the BIOS Smart Fan setting since 2015 then I found out about "ipmi fan" plugin like last year. The plugin control the fan way better than the BIOS. Maybe nowadays ASRock has a better BIOS than back then. 

 

Hopefully the Y splitter will not exceed the header voltage nor cause burn out. Going to order now:

 

ASRock C246 WSI

Intel Core i3-9100

Micron MTA18ASF2G72AZ2G6E2 16GB DDR4 2666Mhz ECC UDIMM 2Rx8

Noctua NA-SYC1 chromax.red, 4-Pin Y-Cables

 

I will just buy one stick of Micron 16GB Ram for now since I do not have the budget. I still need to source for the OCuLINK cable (trurl's link from another post), that one is a pain. I also send ASRack an email to see if they have any recommendation for the OCuLINK.

[mgsvr]

27 minutes ago, mgutt said:

I'm using two fans and let them spin constantly at a lower speed with the included throttle adapter of Noctua. But my case (bitfenix Mini ITX) offers a 200mm fan in the front, which makes this task easy.

 

 

My case has 3 fans in the front blowing directly to the HDDs. 

 

You gave me an idea. Maybe I should have one fan uses power from the PSU connect to a throttle adapter, then daisy chain the other two? That leave 3 Mobo fan headers open, one for CPU + the other two.

 

EDITED: Never mind, I just did my research. Noctua said one low noise adapter per fan. We should not do for more than one.

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by mgsvr

[Hoopster]

1 hour ago, mgsvr said:

Hopefully the Y splitter will not exceed the header voltage nor cause burn out

I have a Noctua Y cable connecting 2 Noctua HDD cage fans to a single header.

 

My Noctua CPU cooler also has two fans and they are both connected to the CPU fan header with a Y cable.

[mgsvr]

I placed an order for all the parts already including the Y splitter cables.

 

Hopefully the board I get from Amazon has a P2.10 BIOS otherwise I do not know if I can even able get into the BIOS with the 9th gen i3. I did shoot an email to ASRock to ask about that scenario.

[Hoopster]

3 minutes ago, mgsvr said:

I did shoot an email to ASRock to ask about that scenario

If you do not receive a reply, let me know.  I have the email address of a support contact at ASRock that has helped me and many others in these forums with special BIOS and troubleshooting issues.